Bride Wears Mom’s 65-Year-Old Wedding Dress to Her Own Wedding: 'Perfect as the Day She Wore It'
Bride Wears Mom’s 65-Year-Old Wedding Dress to Her Own Wedding: 'Perfect as the Day She Wore It'
Staff AuthorWed, May 6, 2026 at 12:02 PM UTC
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Stock. Vintage Wedding DressCredit: Getty -
Olivia Farrelly wore her late mother’s 62-year-old wedding dress to marry her fiancé, Freddy Belliard, at the Bellinter House Hotel in Ireland
The dress, originally handmade by a neighbor of her mother's, was altered to fit Farrelly and with a full tulle skirt
Farrelly said wearing the dress was a bittersweet tribute to her mother, who passed away in December 2013
One bride didn’t have to worry about finding something borrowed for her wedding day.
Olivia Farrelly walked down the aisle in her mother’s 62-year-old wedding dress to marry her fiancé, Freddy Belliard, at the Bellinter House Hotel, according to the Meath Chronicle.
The bride told the outlet that she initially got the idea to wear the dress when she and her fiancé went to visit her dad Richard to tell him the news that they were getting married. While there, they looked at old photographs, including one of her mom and dad’s wedding.
"My [mom] Gerry and my dad got married in 1964. When we went to tell dad that we were getting married, Freddy saw the picture and nudged me. I knew straight away what he was trying to say,” Farrelly recalled.
Stock. Vintage Wedding DressCredit: Getty
"I knew mam's wedding dress was still in the house so I asked Dad if I could wear it and he was delighted,” she added.
The wedding dress was one-of-a-kind as it was made by one of her mother’s neighbors at the time. She had worn it at the age of 21 to marry Farrelly’s father and has since been placed in a box and stored in a wardrobe in the home.
"It was a two-piece satin embossed dress. It was full-length on Mam, but I'm a lot shorter than her so I had to get it taken up. There was a jacket as well, which buttoned at the back,” the bride explained.
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"I got it altered and put a tulle skirt underneath it to give it a fuller look,” she continued. “The dress was as perfect as the day she wore it, except for a small yellow stain at the very bottom of it which was removed when I got the dress taken up to be mid-length."
She paired the silk dress, which featured white rose motifs with a mid-length veil and pointed-toe silk shoes for the big event, according to pictures shared with the Meath Chronicle. Her groom, whom she met and fell in love with last year, matched in a white blazer with black slacks and a black bowtie.
Farrelly told the outlet that wearing the wedding dress was bittersweet, as it reminded her of her mother, who died in December 2013. However, it also made her feel like her mother was part of the ceremony.
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"It felt amazing to be able to wear the dress and for everyone to see me in it. To have the chance and opportunity to wear it over 60 years after the original day, it was very special,” Farrelly said.
It wasn’t just memorable for her, but for her father, Henry as well.
"It was so special for everyone, but especially my dad to see his daughter wearing it on her big day,” she said. “It brought back a lot of memories for him.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
